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Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

It's funny that all four worked at WNST. Too bad ego gets in the way at 1570 or that station could have really kicked ass.

Nestor seems to do a good job of unearthing talent, but a bad job of keeping it there. In addition to the above list, Michael Popovec, Terry Ford, Steve Hennessey, Casey Willett, Phil Backert, Bruce Cunningham and Aaron Wilson have all passed through Nestor's House of Hubris.

I can recall when Jeremy Conn was a pizza delivery boy and part-time producer for Forrester's morning show, working his way up to co-host, and then getting ousted along with Ford for their tendency toward sophomoric puns. They were a great foil for Drew Forrester who played the part of uptight straight man perfectly.

Couldn't believe the overraction the station had to a couple listener complaints. Although I'm sure there was more to that dust up than was reported. Hey, we're talking about a station owner who has had a fifteen-year feud with the baseball team because he was once disrespected in front of his girlfriend by a costumed cartoon bird.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

zinNO! Awful. Only Haney, Long, Mills, Garceau are good. Terry Ford is funny, smart too. Younes is in the wrong Biz. Cerrato is good for radio, but can see why he was bad GM. He has always benefitted from being in the right place at the right time before he got to the Skins.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

Originally Posted by Shas

Couldn't believe the overraction the station had to a couple listener complaints. Although I'm sure there was more to that dust up than was reported. Hey, we're talking about a station owner who has had a fifteen-year feud with the baseball team because he was once disrespected in front of his girlfriend by a costumed cartoon bird.

As a guy who has the advantage of never having met any of these people personally, I've always thought NST was about right in their treatment of the Orioles.

People say stuff all the time about Nestor personally and I suppose some or all of it may be true, but I think it's reasonable and *right* for a Baltimore-area sports station to call the Orioles what they are. Giving them credit when credit is due (well, at least Drew does, and it isn't very often), but caring enough not to let go of the whip.

Are we supposed to stop caring?

Anyway. Pretty far OT.

Festivus

His definitions and arguments were so clear in his own mind that he was unable to understand how any reasonable person could honestly differ with him.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

I never liked Zinno, a wannabe. I admired his service to our country.

Haney and Long are the only ones I listen to. I used to love Scott but he gets into too much
idle talk with his partner who is also lousy. On the day that Terps new basketball coach was hired
they didn't mention it in their first segment. Just idle talk.

Don't know if they ever did because I turned them off and never listened since.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

Originally Posted by festivus

As a guy who has the advantage of never having met any of these people personally, I've always thought NST was about right in their treatment of the Orioles.

People say stuff all the time about Nestor personally and I suppose some or all of it may be true, but I think it's reasonable and *right* for a Baltimore-area sports station to call the Orioles what they are. Giving them credit when credit is due (well, at least Drew does, and it isn't very often), but caring enough not to let go of the whip.

Are we supposed to stop caring?

Anyway. Pretty far OT.

Here's how I see it. WNST has adopted the attitude that they are the only outlet in town with the balls to tell the truth about how badly the Orioles are run.

Really, WNST? You're the only one willing to say anything negative? Are you kidding me? Bashing the Orioles has become an equal-opportunity sport in Baltimore. Other than WBAL, the rights holder, what media outlets DON'T bash the team and ownership on air or in print anymore? Even sister-station 98-Rock's personalities take shots at the team. We all know that opening day is a rare chance to feel good about the team, and starting today we'll all go back to feeling negatively about a stadium filled with Yankees fans. We accept it.

I'll give WNST credit for bashing the team longer, and more incessantly than anyone else, but they are hardly the lone voice of protest they would like to lay claim to. Hell, they weren't even the only ones with an organized demonstration on opening day.

Add the fact that it's obviously personal between the team and station owner, and what you get, for me, is tiresome whining. Does the team deserve the criticism? Absolutely? Do I find any redeeming value in listening to WNST personalities dishing it out? Absolutely not. That act is nearly as tiresome as the team itself.

There is a phenomena in the fundraising world that allows organizations to immediately capitalize on disasters to raise money to help their cause. When when tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, oil spills, you name it, happens, organizations can often rally the public to sit up and do something that addresses the issue. But over time, when the memory of the negative event is no longer news, those organizations that attempt to beat the drum of negativity fail to raise money or interest in the cause. The public gets fatigued and tunes it out.

Not to make light of natural disasters by comparing them to Orioles baseball, but I think this is exactly what is going on with the Orioles and WNST. The station continues to hammer away with the same message that is no longer fresh. Until Angelos & Company produce another overt disaster the public, by and large, will have trouble feeling the outrage that WNST wants to promote. Maybe letting Adam Jones walk in free agency would do it. Until then, I think we're fatigued by WNST's message, and a little skeptical about what's motivating them to hammer away.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

Oh, they aren't the only ones ripping the Orioles. But as you say, Shas, they've been right on that point for a long time.

And for a very long time they were, for whatever reason, the only ones speaking the truth. In New York or Philadelphis or Chicago a team that awful would have been crushed for *years* by most major media outlets. For whatever reason it didn't happen here.

The tide is only very recently changing, as far as I can tell.

Festivus

His definitions and arguments were so clear in his own mind that he was unable to understand how any reasonable person could honestly differ with him.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

Agreed. No point in arguing. I suppose we hear what we want to hear. If I were more pissed off at the team, perhaps the positive comments would stand out and rub me the wrong way more often. I'm kind of neutral, as in, I stopped caring. I'll tune into a game if I have time. I don't expect much out of them. I'm certainly frustrated about ownership mistakes over the years and about the lack of parity in MLB. But I know it won't change soon, so I don't get too upset. I think it would be more frustrating to be Browns fan, with a perennial loser playing in a league that is set up to allow bad teams to quickly become good. That would frustrate me to no end realizing ownership was so bad that my team can't even take advantage of the help the league is giving.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

Hmm. Since when did shooting guns and talking football make anyone a Renaissance man? I respect anyone who serves, and I have no problem with sports talk radio, but I think the headline writer needs to brush up on the definition of Renaissance man.

If you imagined a scale where Neanderthal was at one end...and Renaissance at the other end, where would soldiering and sports talking fall? I'm pretty sure those two qualities would not sit next to wine tasting, sweater knitting, and poetry reading when it comes to Renaissance-man qualifications.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

Originally Posted by Shas

Hmm. Since when did shooting guns and talking football make anyone a Renaissance man? I respect anyone who serves, and I have no problem with sports talk radio, but I think the headline writer needs to brush up on the definition of Renaissance man.

If you imagined a scale where Neanderthal was at one end...and Renaissance at the other end, where would soldiering and sports talking fall? I'm pretty sure those two qualities would not sit next to wine tasting, sweater knitting, and poetry reading when it comes to Renaissance-man qualifications.

I believe the author was pointing out he wears many career hats, which is the accurate, albeit loose, definition of a "renaissance man". The term does not necessarily mean the time period.

WARNING: This post may contain material offensive to those who lack wit, humor, common sense and/or supporting factual or anecdotal evidence. All statements and assertions contained herein may be subject to literary devices not limited to: irony, metaphor, allusion and dripping sarcasm.

Re: Anyone else sick of Mark Zinno?

I believe the author was pointing out he wears many career hats, which is the accurate, albeit loose, definition of a "renaissance man". The term does not necessarily mean the time period.

I didn't think he was trying to say Zinno has 14th century qualities. I know it is supposed to imply mastery of multiple pursuits, but my point was that part time soldier and full time sportscaster didn't strike me as particularly diverse. By definition, doesn't just about everyone who serves in the guard have another, primary job? From that point of view, everyone who is in the Guard is a Renaissance Man.